Reuters photos taken on Wednesday show adults and children outside the U.S. Border Patrol station for migrants in McAllen, Texas, sleeping on the ground and rigging up makeshift awnings with reflective blankets to shelter from the sun.
The photos, taken from a helicopter, also show people sleeping in a shaded area of a parking lot and crowded around a military tent.
The ground temperature was about 89 Fahrenheit (32 Celsius) when the pictures were taken around midday.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) spokesman Richard Pauza referred to testimony by U.S. Border Patrol chief Carla Provost when asked for comment. The Border Patrol is the law enforcement arm of the CBP.
During her May 8 testimony to a U.S. Senate committee, Provost said the agency faced an “unprecedented border security and humanitarian crisis” as Central American migrant families headed north and apprehension numbers went “off the charts.”
U.S. border officers apprehended nearly 99,000 people crossing the U.S. southern border in April, the highest monthly figure since 2007, Provost said.
Source: Reuters
